23.6.2017 / Training camp TKD Pardubice1 coment

Year later at Pardubice tkd camp and ode to Pavel Šnábl

Year passed quickly and I´ve visited camp of Pardubice tkd school again. This time with whole family (as it is sweet stay there for everyone) and also with one of the most experienced student of Sonkal - Pavel Šnábl, III. Dan.
Weather looked like autumn this time, so my beloved garden trainings were substituted by sweeping dusty gym with our toboks. But as we are indomitable we at least enjoyed Satruday fire more and Sunday better weather was gift and not source of heatstroke as normally.

Radek wanted to focus on reverse turning kick, but changed his mind and we trained suroh (sweeping) kick all 3 days. It was new technique for some students, rare technique for even the most advanced. But as we repeated it for tens and hundreds times brains and bodies got used to it a bit and some were even able to use it in matsogi. Few more years and it will be like forefist to face.

My mind got struck by 2 things this year. First - Taekwondists from Pardubice (and Chrudim and Lanškroun) are good. It is obvious as they have good teachers, but still, they are good in different way than Sonkal students. I saw it during first training as even white and yellow belts were able to kick really well and hard to pads. It looked like they thing less about it (in the best meaning) and practice it more naturally. At the other hand they have more mistakes in patterns that are pretty rare in out students. So you have only 2 trainings per week mostly, use all the opportunities to train to be able to grasp at least that part of Taekwon-do your teacher consider important. But you will not still have whole picture.

Second - Pavel Šnábl. Years ago it was hard for me to realize him. Not extra talented, practiced regularly, but not extremely lot as some young does. But he stayed in Taekwon-do, now for more than 15 years. And he is still improving, getting his experiences also in Scotland, Germany and of course in Pardubice :o) He used to be opponent to catch breath with, now I don´t like to fight him as if I get lazy he beats me hard and I don´t like to be beaten by lighter fighters. He doesn´t jump extreme heights in special techniques but is able to jump very nice techniques in high level manner. If I am right he is the only one in Sonkal to regularly break 5 boards on yopchagi. In one sentence - if I want to name 5 Sonkals who are on that real TaekwonDO path, he would by one of them. And he is the next one after Tomáš Vodiška to open his dojang. It will be near Hloubětín and Lukáš Veverka, next of our experienced students will help him.


So if you want to be inspired, take part in this camp next year. And if you want to start practice and you live near Hloubětín, you may become part of first generation students of Pavel Šnábl and Lukáš Veverka.

Martin Svitek, IV. Dan, Sonkal Praha